22. Chara

Chapter 22

Chara

My chest heaves with indignation. "Goodbye." Something in the recesses of my mind rolls around, reminding me of something I read. A passage in the Vade Mecum . I walk to the living room and do a quick search, finding the leather-bound book in exactly the same place as it was upstairs in the panic room on the VIP floor.

I huddle onto the couch and flip page after page, until I come to exactly what I'm looking for. The vampire master will say goodbye to his young charge, in order to keep her protected until the enemy is slain, or her transition has taken place, not believing she holds the key to the enemies demise. I read the passage before it, and the ones after, and then the whole page, then three, and then start at the beginning and read it again.

The Vade Mecum is like reading history and the future at the very same time. Each entwined with the other, destiny taking you on a journey of what has transpired and what is to come, combining passages that leave precious clues of a path yet to come. And I am written in its word. It's me; I'm the young charge, Master Bistrita is trying to keep me safe, and I hold the key. Destiny always knew it was going to be the two of us.

I wasn't cast aside by others but saved for someone and something of a higher calling.

Fated mates…

I breathe in a cleansing breath, grasping the very real differences of the vampire world, compared to my own. It gives me insight, more perspective, and a renewed determination to figure out what the key the Vade Mecum refers to is, because other than that, I have nothing to offer except for my heart.

I hear the entry door open around the corner and inhale a breath, wishing with all my heart that my mate would return, but knowing it's not him the minute I hear Taylen's words. "Make sure you close the door and lock it. We'll stay with her until the danger has passed."

My friends are still whispering, having made their way into the kitchen by the time I reach them. "I am so glad to see you both." I hug them to me.

Natalia gives me a squeeze. "Do not worry about Master Bistrita. He is a cold-hearted beast with a mean streak."

I laugh at my friend who raises her eyebrows in surprise. "What's funny?"

I take her hand. "Come with me, both of you. I have to show you something and then we are going to solve a riddle."

Natalia slips off her shoes and tucks her feet underneath her while Taylen, never one to sit still long, has both feet on the ground and elbows tucked against her knees. "Okay, what's the riddle? I'm all ears," she says.

I pick up the book I've left open to the passage and read it for them. Taylen closes her eyes and extends a hand. "Let me read it myself."

Natalia and I wait for her thoughts, but instead of saying a word, she looks at me strangely, and then she looks at the passage again. She closes the book, and her eyes finally meet mine. Gregor said you left because you needed to tell Master Bistrita about Lucas. What did you have to tell him? What was so important that it made you leave the protection of where Master Bistrita put you?"

I think back to the very moment that sense of urgency hit me. "I was reading the Vade Mecum ." I gesture for her to give me back the book. "Here, there's another passage that I was reading. This is it." I run my finger along the fine print of the old and yellowed crinkly page. "There's another traitor in your midst. Whoever is the overmaster's closest and dearest friend will forge an alliance with the rogues to bring about a change in the hierarchy of all the vampires, with the intent to return things to the way they used to be."

I look at them both, hoping they'll see that my intent wasn't to cause trouble or be difficult, but to genuinely help. "I left to tell Bistrita this, but he said he already knew about Lucas; something about making him pay, but I was already in the vampire's car by then. Thank goodness Gregor and Maeloef showed up when they did."

Taylen nods slowly. "Tell me what happened, do not leave out any detail."

"The vampire's eyes got really red, and I knew, right away. I screamed when he lunged, and he took my phone. He tossed it out the window and told me to sit back and keep my mouth shut or he would rip my heart out of my chest before drinking my blood."

Natalia's eyes grow wide. "I'm so sorry, Chara. I know how scary it is when they attack."

I nod. "It was really scary, but it's the weirdest thing. I admit I was panicked but I knew Master Bistrita would save me or have someone rescue me. Call it blind trust, or whatever you want to call it, but I knew it in my heart. The same way I know now that he was doing what he was intended to do, even if we don't understand why. He left me to keep me safe, but he doesn't understand that I have a key."

Taylen and Natalia watch me, both quiet in their thoughts, and it's hard to know exactly what they're thinking.

I squirm with frustration at the silence as they process. "What key, though? What is the key that I need to give to Bistrita? It has to be right in front of my face, right?"

Taylen stands and begins pacing back and forth. "It's not a physical key. It's the key to solving who is at the root of the betrayal. It's the person."

My eyebrows crinkle. "Lucas? Bistrita knows about him."

She shakes her head in slow motion.

"No, I don't think it is. I think Master Bistrita didn't believe you when he should have. As close as Lucas and Descallia have been rumored to be over the centuries, Lucas was always his right-hand man."

I start to say something, but Taylen wards it off with a hand. "Let me see if this plays out."

She paces some more. "Lucas may have been the right hand and trusted above all, but Overmaster Descallia's friend, his dearest friend? Everyone knows that's Magnus. A powerful vampire with enough sway of his own, in many regions around the globe. Rumor has it that he was offered positions within Overmaster's structure after Anna, Lucianna as you know her, was staked and left to burn alive centuries ago. But Descallia saved her soul, he carried her out of that burning city, barely alive himself after her demise, fueled by only one thing, his promise to her of building a legacy and structure for the vampires that we could be proud of in centuries to come. Everyone knows he and Magnus have been the best of friends since before then."

Natalia and I look to each other, never having expected to become part of a vampire war that dates back centuries and still goes on today. "Magnus? Is he the key?" I ask Taylen.

I feel the stealthy, cold, dark-hearted beast before he appears in front of us, never having heard the door lock at all. Master Bistrita stands tall and fierce, glaring at the three of us. "I thought this is where the two of you would be. Do not leave this room," he says to Taylen and Natalia before taking my hand. "You come with me."